Heart

it can chew upmouthfulsof stained glasssending themringing into the bloodlike a knight fallingfrom a turret

it never hesitatesit adores armorit sustains the solemn beatof the victor's horsein the stone courtyardof the vanquished

it is blindand its burnt-out sockets stareas in a starving faceat a dungeon windowyet it survivesthe rack and the whiponly to kill itselfbecause the lady's bodyis consumedunder another's hand

if allowed its own wayit will live for long periodsas an infantyet it is alsothe only one who canlocate the lost childquicker than the wolves.

Reflections on Samson

Samson turned up in Brooklynwearing a skin-diver'soutfitand looking Caribbean.

They thought he was sentby Fideland frisked him and suggestedhe stayout of the harbor muck.

But he was accustomedto nothingin this new world wherehe needed tasksworthy of his strength andso walked for hoursasking advice fromthe pigeons.

After some months he locateda mother and fatherin Canarsie who spoke to himin sign language. He learnedto eat very awkwardlywith a forkand was encouragedby the children to play baseballwhich he mastered, but foundit hard to control the speedof his pitch.

For a while he visited with Three girls – all small and pretty-In the afternoons they wouldSwim in the harborLeaping into the air occasionally like dolphins.

When they called him for the draftIn 1965, he refusedAt first, but later saw the chance For heroism and servedAs a nurse, carrying the woundedOut of range, one orTwo under each arm.

Delilah was a rich girl who had problems. He went there often To hear the piano and argue with her father whohated unions.

One day they bought hima hat and a suitand insisted he get hishair cut.

After that he was neverthe same. He woke uptied to a desk, writingarticles for obscuresocial science journals.

Of his several childrenone was torn apartby urges to be in twoPlaces at once, of the othersthere is no clear record.